iPhone Location Services – How to Enable

Location Services is pretty much the bones of the iOS operating system. Privacy advocates will give you a long list of reasons why you should turn it off, but in reality, having iPhone location services turned off is the equivalent of a very diminished experience on your device. Many apps and iOS features rely on location services, while other features can be considered optional. Let’s take an overview of iOS location services and what to enable or disable.

Read more: How to view your iPhone’s location history

Location services is the area of ​​your iOS device where you can decide how much privacy you’re willing to give away to Apple and app developers in the interest of maximizing your iOS experience. That’s pretty much iPhone location services in a nutshell.

Every app and Apple feature that requires the use of your location is listed here and you can decide whether or not to grant access to your current location on a case-by-case basis. Or you can go completely nuclear and turn off location services completely. But like I said, turning off your smart device experience will significantly diminish. Many apps will either be severely crippled or won’t work at all.

Some Disadvantages of Disabling Location Services

• There would be no Google Maps or apple cards navigation.
• There would be no tracking of your lost or stolen devices and other items using find my† Your AirTags would stop working.
• you couldn’t follow your training routes on Apple Watch†
• The Emergency Calls and SOS feature would not be able to communicate your location to emergency services.
• Your camera wouldn’t be able to add metadata to every photo.
• You would not get the weather forecast for your region.
• Location based reminders would no longer work. So don’t think about getting the milk when you drive past the supermarket.
• Elements of HomeKit will stop working if it can’t tell if you’re almost home or really home.
• Automatically changing the time zone doesn’t work, which would be hugely inconvenient for frequent travelers, and some apps like two-step verification will not work if the times are not properly synchronized.

These examples are just the beginning of what you would miss if you turned off Location Services. So it’s worth turning it on and using only what you need.

Turn iPhone location services on and off

When you set up an iOS device for the first time, you’ll be asked if you want to activate Location Services as part of the setup process. If you choose not to do this at that stage, or if you turn it off afterwards, you can turn it back on by going to Settings–>Privacy–>Location Services† Set it to green, and that’s it.

Customize iPhone Location Services

Now let’s take a look at the main settings page for iPhone location services and what each item does. You can then make your own judgment as to whether or not to enable or disable it. Of course we also make recommendations.

Share my location

When you first tap Share my locationyou will see that this is the home of find my iphone† To do this, you must at least have Location Services enabled. An iPhone is an extremely expensive gadget – if it is lost or stolen, disabling Find My iPhone will destroy any remaining chance of getting your phone back.

This is also the area where you can choose whether to share your current location with friends or family, or to use Siri or the Home app. You have to manually approve each request, so you have full control over this. However, some people find it a bit intrusive when their family and friends can track their every move. That’s why I disabled it permanently.

My location is when you have more than one Apple device — you can select which device to use to determine your location. If you carry one device with you more than another, you can switch to that device for location-finding purposes.

find my iphone

Switch on find my iphone and follow the on-screen instructions, including entering a passcode. The passcode prevents a thief from disabling the Find My feature and inserting a new SIM card into the phone. Please note that if you want to reset your iPhone, you must turn off Find My iPhone or a new owner won’t be able to use it. It is very easy to overlook.

Find My iPhone also lets you remotely wipe your device if it’s stolen, keeping your personal information safe. You can also find the device when it is turned off or offline (in airplane modefor example.)

Adjust permission levels for specific apps

Now if you go back to the main Find My iPhone screen, you will see your installed apps that require your location. You can choose to give them permanent access, access only when the app is being used, or no access at all. The screen tells you why the app is asking for your location information, and it’s up to you to decide whether this sounds legit or not.

However, you should always be very careful and careful. If you grant access to your location, this is the best: While using the app† Not only does this limit the amount of location data the app can collect, but it’s also less of a drain on your phone’s battery† Some apps also ask for your data if there’s no earthly reason why they would need it. Apps like Shazam† DropBoxand paypal don’t need your location data, no matter how much they say they do.

Google Maps or Yelp, on the other hand – well, that’s another story. Additionally, you may want location tracking for social media apps to tag you correctly. It’s all a matter of common sense and what your needs are.

Remember that any decision you make can be easily and immediately revoked later. Nothing is forever.

iOS System Services

The next big area to look at is System Services, which is further down the Location Settings page. This opens up another big can of worms that you need to look at carefully. Here, Apple very helpfully places the meaning of the little diagonal arrows you see next to apps and settings that want your location. At a glance you can see which apps and settings are most hungry for your location data. Tap System Services to go to the next screen.

Many of these things can be safely turned off if you wish. Again, it all comes down to what you need. Let’s look at them one by one. Click on one to bring up details about it.

iOS System Services Options